Sears Silvertone “medalist” portable set
 

Last Sunday, I went to pick up some b/w sets from an old tv shop and I happend to see this set sitting out in the woods. I went over to it and then realized it was a color set, for some unknown reason, I took it with me. Naturally, the chassis and every other piece of metal is nice and badly rusted and all controls were frozen except for the volume. I’m planning to see if I can get some action out of it in the next few weeks. Haven’t tested the CRT yet but I’m hoping it’s still good. I need to first evict the ant colony and replace the white capped tubes. More photos coming soon.

Nice save, I'd like to see a resto done on this one.

Ants aren't too bad, especially when I think of the stories I've heard about sets that were roach-infested. It just goes to show that there are certain cases in which one can safely tell a customer to take a hike.

That's an instant-on set. A very frequent failure was the double-gang on-off switch. A little pot metal tripper breaks off, rendering that part of the switch inoperable.

It looks like a fun project. I wonder if that is a Japanese made set? Put some penetrating oil on the pot shafts and in the pots, let it sit and see if they come loose.

Jon A.: You are forgetting down south they have fire-ants which bite like a big old spider and leave burning sore...If it is full of those it is worse than roaches.

Man, that cataract is NASTY.

That reminds me of a Rescue 911 episode in which a baby is attacked by fire ants.

Roaches still seem worse to me just because of how gross they are--not to mention my OCD that largely manifests itself as a contamination phobia--and that they're so hard to kill.

The set is a genuine Warwick job! I have one in my collection that is probably the last of the tube sets built by them, before they were took over by Sanyo.

Yup its a US built Warwick. IIRC its abt 1970. Most tubes. After
this type they had a hybrid with modules then a SS set with
the new RCA in line tube. That was a real dog.
Old Coot has a good point on the switches. Maggy & Admiral
used them alot too along with most others. You could repair them but
since you gotta take them out we always changed them. No steady
hands in our shpop !

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

On some of those I used to rewire those switches and just make it an on-off function. I told the owner's they didn't need that instant on feature. :thumbsdn:
In my previous entry it should have been "taken over by Sanyo".

I had one of these long ago, before I learned who Warwick was. You may have a third color control, like Magnavox "chromatone" and its call "chromix" on a Sears IIRC.

Its a heavy set with a very sturdy plastic cabinet. Mine worked OK but did not look great, it was not the CRT either, but a borderline video or IF issue. I sold it for $20 to a kid who bought an Atari and he was thrilled.

I thought all the Silvertone color TV's were RCA knock offs:nerd:, mainly because they used many of the same tubes. The console Medalists looked like an RCA clone. The PC boards looked very different than RCA tho, almost like Admiral's did.

We did the same thing, with the customer's approval, after explaining that the switch broke due to whacking the knob too hard to turn the set off.

The first Silvertone sets were genuine RCA chassis, IIRC CTC12 & CTC15.
When RCA decided to license the building of clones, Warwick changed the design slightly and those were the most common sets built by them. The chassis layout was different, but the circuitry was very similar.
There seemed to be two different versions of the set shown. The later version was a better design and used less tubes. That's the model I have! :thmbsp:

Here’s the inside. Tested the CRT and it tested ok after sitting at 8 volts for 20 minutes or so.

This looks like a job for Shango. It just needs a possum carcass and a few clumps of weeds growing out of it.

Wow I dont think even Shango could get this running !
What a rust bucket. Start with a vert out then some new dag coating.
Then watch it burn up..........

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

I was thinking that very thing myself!
Pull the CRT, yoke, convergence and maybe the flyback and ditch the rest.

My zombie Sylvania D16 was about that bad and it was able to run decently after a lot of work.

There's a challenge if I ever saw one.

I would strip out every bit of metal first and give it all a good soak in white vinegar, brushing off loose rust every once in a while. When taking the stuff out of the bath hose it off immediately, the residual rust loves to stain the surface if allowed to dry. Then, just to be certain everything's okay I'd wash it off in a baking soda and water solution to neutralize any remaining acid from the vinegar. Got to hose if off again after that, the baking soda will leave streaks.

"Watch it burn up" is right! As badly rusted as the chassis is, it will probably do just that the moment it is plugged in, if the house fuse doesn't blow first, the chassis starts smoldering, or outright catches fire. This set probably sat out in the rain heaven only knows how long, which also did major damage to the circuitry. I would salvage as much as possible from the set (knobs, tubes, etc.) and put the rest out for the trash.

The CRT is likely shot as well, judging from the severe cataract. In any event, this set, IMO, is not worth repairing. I can't begin to imagine what other severe damage, aside from what is shown here, may have been and probably was done to the chassis. If the set had been rescued before the chassis began to rust, it may have been repairable, but not in its present condition. As I said, salvage any good parts, then put the rest of the set in the trash. It is no good for anything else.

Another way to disable the instant-on feature is to remove the diode across the power switch (I think this may be what you meant by "rewiring" the switch). These diodes often shorted after lightning strikes, effectively locking the AC switch in the "on" position. Removing the diode restored the switch function, but of course eliminated the instant-on feature. It was just as well, as instant-on kept the tube filaments on (albeit at low power), which was a waste of electricity. Remember, these TVs were made in the 1970s during the so-called "energy crisis", and many people did not like the idea of their TVs effectively being permanently "on" even when not in use, not to mention the potential fire hazard. Many folks requested that the instant-on feature be disabled when other work on the set was needed.

Cataracts are fixable. And chassis rust affects nothing...As long as the chassis has not rusted through or otherwise become structurally weak.


As long as the transformers are good (70% chance) and no PCBs have lost structural integrity it can be restored...Every carbon resistor is probably off tolerance, and there are going to be some oddball problems, but that can be fixed.

Well, if your goal is for everyone to say "Wow, how did you make that work?" then this is the one to work on! I'm not sure though what you'd have when you finished with it. Would you save it in your collection or what would you do with it? It would never really be anything safe to allow to play or watch for any period of time and it will never look nice in your collection. I admit it would be an interesting challenge but just not sure what a person would do with it when finished. I'm just thinking out loud here and not wanting to insult anyone. Once again, "Wow what a mess".

Dennis

Sets that don't look like they were pulled out of the ocean are a challenge enough. I'd look for another to save.

I had a Hitachi console that was in really poor shape and ended up scrapping it, a move I later regretted as it was such an interesting set. I won't be making the same mistake with the Bradford/GE mongrel I got last year. That one's a low priority with me though as it'll probably never see regular use.

By the way, upon closer inspection of that photo I noticed that the top of the HV cage has rusted through as well as the main chassis where it meets the cage. For those spots I'd break out the Bondo, as long as the rest of the metal isn't severely compromised.

One thing to consider, tube color portables are hard to come by in any condition.

What you're referring to is the simple B/W portables that only used the low voltage B+ circuit and series heaters.
The color sets used a more involved switching scheme using two separate switches, one SPDT and one SPST. The SPST cut the B+ and the SPDT controlled the heaters. It seemed the SPDT side was the one that went bad. :scratch2:

I think I’m going to see if it does anything, after that I’m pulling the flyback, CRT and tubes and rest of the set will go to the trash.

If you don't want to attempt a restoration, I'd be interested in the set. How much does it weigh?

I have one just like it but the crt is dead in mine. i really like the looks of the tv

They were only a so-so performer when new; that rustbucket is not worth the effort.

I’m not sure, I’ll weigh it soon.

Ok....when you weigh it, PM me.

I sent you a PM